Job 30:4
in Job 30They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They pluck salt-wort by the bushes; And the roots of the broom are their food.
KJV
Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
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This verse in Job 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseWho cut up mallows by the bushes - מלוח malluach, which we translate mallows, comes from מלח melach, salt; some herb or shrub of a salt nature, sea-purslane, or the salsaria, salsola, or saltwort. Bochart says it is the ἁλιμος of the Greeks, and the halimus of the Romans. Some translate it nettles. The Syriac and Arabic omit the whole verse. The halimus, or atriplex halimus, grows near the sea in different countries, and is found in Spain, America, England, and Barbary.
This site's exposition
They plucked mallow among the shrubs
on Job 30:4-6
“They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food”. Gill and Clarke read these as a bitter salt plant and a food of last resort. Banished “from among men” and “shouted down like thieves”, these fathers were treated as criminals.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
He explains, consequently, what they gnaw when he continues, "and they ate grass," wild and raw, "and the bark of trees and the root of the junipers was their food." Here he shows how crude and cheap their food was.
Who gnawed in solitude, being scurvy with calamity and misery, and chewed herbs and the barks of trees. And juniper roots for their meat. All heretics, whilst in sacred Revelation they make it their aim to dive into secrets of God beyond what they are capable of, by their hunger become barren.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Who cut up mallows by the bushes,....
But we must own the righteousness of God, and not think it strange, if slothfulness clothe men with rags and the idle soul be made to suffer hunger. This beggarly world is full of the devil's poor.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
mallows--rather, "salt-wort," which grows in deserts and is eaten as a salad by the poor [MAURER]. by the bushes--among the bushes. juniper--rather, a kind of broom, Spartium junceum [LINNÆUS], still called in Arabia, as in the Hebrew of Job, retem, of which the bitter roots are eaten by the poor.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Who cut up mallows - For the purpose of eating. Mallows are common medicinal plants, famous for their emollient or softening properties, and the size and brilliancy of their flowers. It is not probable, however, that Job referred to what we commonly understand by the word mallows. It has been commonly supposed that he meant a species of plant, called by the Greeks Hallimus, a sunfish plant, or “salt wort,” growing commonly in the deserts and poor land, and eaten as a salad. The Vulgate renders it simply “herbas;” the Septuagint, ἄλιμα alima. The Hebrew word, according to Umbreit, means a common salad of a saltish taste, whose young leaves being cooked, constituted food for the poorer classes. The Hebrew word מלוח mallûach is from מלח mâlach, “salt,” and properly refers to a marine plant or vegetable. By the bushes - Or among the bushes; that is, that which grew among the bushes of the desert. They wandered about in the desert that they might obtain this very humble fare. And juniper-roots - The word here rendered “juniper” רתם rethem, occurs only in this place, and in 1Ki 19:4-5; Psa 120:4. In each place it is rendered “juniper.” In 1 Kings it is mentioned as the tree under which Elijah sat down when he fled into the wilderness for his life; In Psa 120:4, it is mentioned as a material for making coals. “Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.” It is rendered “juniper” by Jerome, and by the rabbis. The verb (רתם râqab) occurs in Mic 1:13, where it is rendered “bind,” and means to bind on, to make fast; and probably the plant here referred to received its name in some way from the notion of “binding” - perhaps because its long, flexible, and slender twigs were used for binding, or for “withes.” There is no evidence, however, that the “juniper” is in any case intended. […]
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַקֹּטְפִ֣ים | hakotefim | those [who] pluck off | H6998 → | |
| מַלּ֣וּחַ | maluach | mallow | H4408 → | |
| עֲלֵי־ | ʾalei- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שִׂ֑יחַ | siach | bush[es] | H7880 → | |
| וְשֹׁ֖רֶשׁ | veshoresh | and [the] root of | H8328 → | 33 times |
| רְתָמִ֣ים | retamim | broom plants | H7574 → | |
| לַחְמָֽם׃ | lachmam | [for] food their | H3899 → | 298 times |
הַקֹּטְפִ֣יםthose [who] pluck off
hakotefimH6998 →
מַלּ֣וּחַmallow
maluachH4408 →
עֲלֵי־on
ʾalei-H5921 →5755 times
שִׂ֑יחַbush[es]
siachH7880 →
וְשֹׁ֖רֶשׁand [the] root of
veshoreshH8328 →33 times
רְתָמִ֣יםbroom plants
retamimH7574 →
לַחְמָֽם׃[for] food their
lachmamH3899 →298 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Amos 7:14“I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.
it leads to
- Amos 1:1
These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son…
- Zechariah 13:5
He will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I work the land, for I was purchased as a servant in my youth.’
- 2 Kings 2:5
Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do…
- 1 Corinthians 1:27
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
- 2 Kings 4:38
When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and…
- Amos 1:1
Through
Luke 15:16He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.
it leads to
- Romans 6:19–21
I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now…
- Hosea 12:1
Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
- Isaiah 55:2
Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the…
- Romans 6:19–21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XX; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.